Adjacent Words

Lily definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LIL'Y, n. [L. lilium; Gr.] A genus of plants of many species, which are all bulbous-rooted, herbaceous perennials, producing bell-shaped, hexapetalous flowers of great beauty and variety of colors.
Lily of the valley, a plant of the genus convallaria, with a monopetalous, bell-shaped corol, divided at the top into six segments.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: any liliaceous plant of the genus Lilium having showy pendulous flowers

Merriam Webster's

I. noun (plural lilies) Etymology: Middle English lilie, from Old English, from Latin lilium Date: before 12th century 1. any of a genus (Lilium of the family Liliaceae, the lily family) of erect perennial leafy-stemmed bulbous herbs that are native to the temperate northern hemisphere and are widely cultivated for their showy flowers; broadly any of various plants of the lily family or of the related amaryllis or iris families 2. any of various plants with showy flowers: as a. a scarlet anemone (Anemone coronaria) of the Mediterranean region b. water lily c. calla lily 3. fleur-de-lis 2 II. adjective Date: 15th century resembling a lily in fairness, purity, or fragility <my lady's lily hand — John Keats>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. -ies) 1 a any bulbous plant of the genus Lilium with large trumpet-shaped often spotted flowers on a tall slender stem, e.g. the madonna lily and tiger lily. b any of several other plants of the family Liliaceae with similar flowers, e.g. the African lily. c the water lily. 2 a person or thing of special whiteness or purity. 3 a heraldic fleur-de-lis. 4 (attrib.) a delicately white (a lily hand). b pallid. Phrases and idioms: lily-livered cowardly. lily of the valley any liliaceous plant of the genus Convallaria, with oval leaves in pairs and racemes of white bell-shaped fragrant flowers. lily-pad a floating leaf of a water lily. lily-white 1 as white as a lily. 2 faultless. Derivatives: lilied adj. Etymology: OE lilie f. L lilium prob. f. Gk leirion

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lily Lil"y (l[i^]l"[y^]), n.; pl. Lilies (-[i^]z). [AS. lilie, L. lilium, Gr. lei`rion. Cf. Flower-de-luce.] 1. (Bot.) A plant and flower of the genus Lilium, endogenous bulbous plants, having a regular perianth of six colored pieces, six stamens, and a superior three-celled ovary. Note: There are nearly fifty species, all found in the North Temperate zone. Lilium candidum and L. longiflorum are the common white lilies of gardens; L. Philadelphicum is the wild red lily of the Atlantic States; L. Chalcedonicum is supposed to be the ``lily of the field'' in our Lord's parable; L. auratum is the great gold-banded lily of Japan. 2. (Bot.) A name given to handsome flowering plants of several genera, having some resemblance in color or form to a true lily, as Pancratium, Crinum, Amaryllis, Nerine, etc. 3. That end of a compass needle which should point to the north; -- so called as often ornamented with the figure of a lily or fleur-de-lis. But sailing further, it veers its lily to the west. --Sir T. Browne. African lily (Bot.), the blue-flowered Agapanthus umbellatus. Atamasco lily (Bot.), a plant of the genus Zephyranthes (Z. Atamasco), having a white and pink funnelform perianth, with six petal-like divisions resembling those of a lily. --Gray. Blackberry lily (Bot.), the Pardanthus Chinensis, the black seeds of which form a dense mass like a blackberry. Bourbon lily (Bot.), Lilium candidum. See Illust. Butterfly lily. (Bot.) Same as Mariposa lily, in the Vocabulary. Lily beetle (Zool.), a European beetle (Crioceris merdigera) which feeds upon the white lily. Lily daffodil (Bot.), a plant of the genus Narcissus, and its flower. Lily encrinite (Paleon.), a fossil encrinite, esp. Encrinus liliiformis. See Encrinite. Lily hyacinth (Bot.), a plant of the genus Hyacinthus. Lily iron, a kind of harpoon with a detachable head of peculiar shape, used in capturing swordfish.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Lily Lil"y, n. (Auction Bridge) A royal spade; -- usually in pl. See Royal spade, below.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(lilies) A lily is a plant with large flowers. Lily flowers are often white. N-VAR

Easton's Bible Dictionary

The Hebrew name shushan or shoshan, i.e., "whiteness", was used as the general name of several plants common to Syria, such as the tulip, iris, anemone, gladiolus, ranunculus, etc. Some interpret it, with much probability, as denoting in the Old Testament the water-lily (Nymphoea lotus of Linn.), or lotus (Cant. 2:1, 2; 2:16; 4:5; 5:13; 6:2, 3; 7:2). "Its flowers are large, and they are of a white colour, with streaks of pink. They supplied models for the ornaments of the pillars and the molten sea" (1 Kings 7:19, 22, 26; 2 Chr. 4:5). In the Canticles its beauty and fragrance shadow forth the preciousness of Christ to the Church. Groser, however (Scrip. Nat. Hist.), strongly argues that the word, both in the Old and New Testaments, denotes liliaceous plants in general, or if one genus is to be selected, that it must be the genus Iris, which is "large, vigorous, elegant in form, and gorgeous in colouring."

The lilies (Gr. krinia) spoken of in the New Testament (Matt. 6:28; Luke 12:27) were probably the scarlet martagon (Lilium Chalcedonicum) or "red Turk's-cap lily", which "comes into flower at the season of the year when our Lord's sermon on the mount is supposed to have been delivered. It is abundant in the district of Galilee; and its fine scarlet flowers render it a very conspicous and showy object, which would naturally attract the attention of the hearers" (Balfour's Plants of the Bible).

Of the true "floral glories of Palestine" the pheasant's eye (Adonis Palestina), the ranunuculus (R. Asiaticus), and the anemone (A coronaria), the last named is however, with the greatest probability regarded as the "lily of the field" to which our Lord refers. "Certainly," says Tristram (Nat. Hist. of the Bible), "if, in the wondrous richness of bloom which characterizes the land of Israel in spring, any one plant can claim pre-eminence, it is the anemone, the most natural flower for our Lord to pluck and seize upon as an illustration, whether walking in the fields or sitting on the hill-side." "The white water-lily (Nymphcea alba) and the yellow water-lily (Nuphar lutea) are both abundant in the marshes of the Upper Jordan, but have no connection with the lily of Scripture."

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

lil'-i (shushan (1Ki 7:19), shoshannah (2Ch 4:5; So 2:1 f; Ho 14:5); plural (So 2:16; 4:5; 5:13; 6:2 f; 7:2; Ecclesiasticus 39:14; 50:8); krinon (Mt 6:28; Lu 12:27)): The Hebrew is probably a loan word from the Egyptian the original s-sh-n denoting the lotus-flower, Nymphaea lotus. This was probably the model of the architectural ornament, translated "lily-work," which appeared upon the capitals of the columns in the temple porch (1Ki 7:19), upon the top of the pillars (1Ki 7:22) and upon the turned-back rim of the "molten sea" (1Ki 7:26).

Botanically the word shoshannah, like the similar modern Arabic Susan, included in all probability a great many flowers, and was used in a way at least as wide as the popular use of the English word "lily." The expression "lily of the valleys" (So 2:1) has nothing to do with the plant of that name; the flowers referred to appear to have been associated with the rank herbage of the valley bottoms (So 4:5); the expression "His lips are as lilies" (So 5:13) might imply a scarlet flower, but more probably in oriental imagery signifies a sweet-scented flower; the sweet scent of the lily is referred to in Ecclesiasticus 39:14, and in 50:8 we read of "lilies by the rivers of water." The beauty of the blossom is implied in Ho 14:5, where Yahweh promises that repentant Israel shall "blossom as the lily." A "heap of wheat set about with lilies" (So 7:2) probably refers to the smoothed-out piles of newly threshed wheat on the threshing-floors decorated by a circlet of flowers.

The reference of our Lord to the "lilies of the field" is probably, like the Old Testament references, quite a general one.

The Hebrew and the Greek very likely include not only any members of the great order Liliaceae, growing in Palestine, e.g. asphodel, squill, hyacinth, ornithogalum ("Star of Bethlehem"), fritillaria, tulip and colocynth, but also the more showy irises ("Tabor lilies" "purple irises," etc.) and the beautiful gladioli of the Natural Order. Irideae and the familiar narcissi of the Natural Order Amaryllideae.

In later Jewish literature the lily is very frequently referred to symbolically, and a lotus or lily was commonly pictured on several Jewish coins.

E. W. G. Masterman